reduce, reuse, recycle

in the sweltering heat yesterday, gathering up two huge boxes full of bottle, cans, and cardboard. Recycling came today and I finally was ready! It was so worth it; I just watched from the kitchen doorway while they picked up. Made me happy to see how all my neighbors had a lot of recycling! Also, seems everybody drinks a lot around these parts. A whole damn lot! I know we do!

Close to 100 cardboard boxes (from moving) at the recycling center. Yay!

my apt system doesn’t offer any sort of recycling facilities. but it’s in a fairly residential area, so I figure i can walk my recycling to a nice corner somewhere on the appointed days. I am also going to file a complaint that there are seemingly no recycling options available to our community of HUNDREDS of apts within this 2-mile area. I would even be willing to help organize it. So going to get on that. the main baltimore county recycling center is also like 3 miles from my place, so I could always do a drop-off of my own things. I used to do them at the recycling center at college, but security would always yell at me for driving my car down to Facilities Services. Boo security, really important to protect the dumpsters! But when I showed them my HUGE bags of beer cans, threw it in the appropriately- labeled dumpster, and then walked back to my car with my “hands in the air” it usually shut them up. They never even got out of their patrol car, anyhow, just yelled at me from a distance. Wow, that got me riled up! Sorry, anyhow.

I am trying to cut down on waste at work as well, and encouraging other to do the same.

We are also recycling bags at the grocery (the ones we already had) and now bringing reusables with us. I also keep a big paper shopping bag from work (very sturdy!) in my car in case I forget to bring bags or have to stop unplanned for something. It feels good to tell a cashier that I will use the bag I already have.

My mom trained me well to always re-use containers if possible, go mum!

By stopping and thinking, is there a better way to do this, I have avoided a lot of uneccessry waste! I can’t wait until we have some land and can have a garden w/ a compost pile!